Fremont Community Theatre brings 'Calendar Girls' to local stage

Lynne Wagner, as Cora, plays the piano during a rehersal scene for Fremont Community Theatre's "Calendar Girls." Pictured left to right is the rest of the cast, Darla Brown as Annie, Ann Stendera as Jessie, Beth Schweitzer as Chris, Karen Langley, as Karen and Melissa Karr as Celia.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)Buy Photo

FREMONT - A box office movie hit is getting a local adaptation as the Fremont Community Theatre brings "Calendar Girls" to the stage to open the 2017-2018 season.

Based on the movie of the same name, "Calendar Girls" tells the story of English friends who come together to pose for a nude calendar to raise money for a local hospital when one of the character's husband dies after a battle with leukemia.

The film version, released in 2003, starred Helen Mirren, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Chris. The movie made $96 million worldwide against a $10 million budget.

When audiences see the film version, there will be a few changes from the movie adaptation, according to director Amy Wylykanowitz.

"We are dropping the English accents, and we are only going to have six women in the cast, not 12 like the movie," Wylykanowitz said. "You want to have a consistency to an accent and you can't carry through the whole show, it would be distracting."

Aside from a few minor tweaks, Wylykanowitz said the remainder of the show will feel similar, but not word-for-word with the movie.

Wylykanowitz said it had been a number of years since she was involved in theater production, but said Calendar Girls was the right project to bring her back to her passion.

"I've been out of theater for a while raising a family, but this is one the show that could bring me back in," Wylykanowitz said. "This story is so personal, and we all know someone who has battled cancer."

The show has special meaning to Wylykanowitz because her best friend's husband lost a battle to melanoma.

"As a group of friends we rallied around the family, and living through that, I would go up to Michigan to spend time with her and her daughters as she coped with her new reality," Wylykanowitz.

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Assistant director for "Calendar Girls" Lea-Ann Wilson holds a calendar featuring Melissa Karr from the stage play opening Friday. Calendars will be on sale during the show and the proceeds will be donated to the Sandusky County Cancer Fund.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)

In the spirit of the film, Wylykanowitz said before auditions, each actor was told they would pose for the theater's own calendar that would be sold.

"I wanted to do the calendar because it was such a fun idea to get it out into the community and raise money for a good cause," Wylykanowitz said.